"As both a dancer and an audience member, I'm neither a complete layperson nor an expert in the world of ballet, and Maggie Shipstead's Astonish Me stands up for readers on both ends of the spectrum. It begins with a young American ballerina helping a Soviet star defect to the United States, and follows her as she grows into, then leaves, then returns to a life in ballet. Shipstead's descriptions of dancers in action are some of the clearest and most lovely I've read and the atmosphere of artistry, routine, and competition she creates rings true. But while ballet dancers are physically and artistically rarefied beings, it is her characters' humanity that makes this book worth the time of any reader, regardless of how many left feet you may have."
Publisher Vintage
Publication Date 2015-01-06
Section New Titles - Paperback / Fiction / All Staff Suggestions / Fiction Suggestions / Rachel C.
Format Paperback
ISBN 9780345804617
For years Joan has been trying to forget her past, to find peace and satisfaction in her role as wife and mother. Few in her drowsy California suburb know her thrilling history: as a young American ballerina in Paris, she fell into a doomed, passionate romance with Soviet dance superstar Arslan Rusakov. After playing a leading role in his celebrated defection, Joan bowed out of the spotlight for good, heartbroken by Arslan and humbled by her own modest career.
But when her son turns out to be a ballet prodigy, Joan is pulled back into a world she thought she'd left behind—a world of dangerous secrets, of Arslan, and of longing for what will always be just out of reach.
